We had beautiful weather for dock day and thanks to Lindsay Clarkson, his crew, and many Corinthian volunteers everything went like clock work - well... almost. The pictures below tell a story of an exciting rescue operation @ CYCCM:

Docks set adrift in Cape May harbor - stranded aboard are Wally Barrie, Dale Hardin, John Henderson, Den Sweetman and Kevin Maloney.

A line is thrown, but they are out of reach. Dock Foreman Bob Herzog calls for help

USCG Capt Tom Carroll (ret) mans his rescue vessel and responds to the call

The CYCCM Offshore Series continued on Saturday August 31, 2008. The
race committee (Past Commodores Herb Anger and Sandy Thomson on Green
Stamp and Larry Good and Past Commodores Jack Lord and Wally Stuard on
Ova 2) set the race course two miles offshore with winds initially
coming out of the Southeast. Once again, the fleet was met with
challenging conditions, as nearby storms produced oscillating winds,
coupled with a strong "Spring" tide. This proved to be the most
challenging of recent races, with the fleet fighting both the shifting
winds and the current upwind, taking so long to get to the first
(windward) mark that the race committee was forced to shorten the race
to just two legs. The race committee put up "N" flag (signaling races
abandoned for the day), the fleet started to head in and the breeze
filled in allowing at least for a pleasant sail into the harbor.

In the J24 fleet, line honors went to Red Dawn (John Wilsey, Vice
Commodore Rick Coale, Eric Bennung and Rachel Bennung), followed closely
by White Lie (reknowned Heinekin Regatta skipper Chip Rapp with his
regular crew Carol Flynn, Gordon Sayre, Jeff Scharf, and Sara Stuard) in
second and Arnold Goes to Hollywood (Jack Van Dalen with father-and-son
crews Past Commodore Dick O'Keefe and his son Sean and incoming Rear
Commodore Tom Lord and his son Brendan) in third.

Going into the last weekend, Turkeys are untouchable in the first place
position that have held through most (it not all) of the Summer. Only
one point separates Cinderella (second) and Bobsled (Third), and only
three points separates the next four boats (Blink, Red Dawn, Arnold Goes
and White Lie). Trophies will be awarded for the first five finishes
for the series.

In the PHRF fleet, Hot Toddy (Steve Todd with crew Carl Behrens and
Kevin) was first over the line for the second week in a row. Shillelagh
leads the PHRF series but by only one point.

The racers are off next weekend (with some fleet members competing in a
J24 Parkway Regatta in Toms River, New Jersey). The series concludes on
Saturday, September 13, 2008, with racing followed by the Annual Awards
Party.

Be sure to read Fred Beyer's hilarous account of the first night of sailing in the new "Lady Corinthians" Wednesday night Series on the Sailing Clinic page.

Make sure to read PC Fred Beyer's account of the first weeks of his adult sailing clinic - afterwards you'll want to join in the fun or come and watch the class in action. All of Fred's students are progressing well and look for many of them in this week's inaugural races of the new "Lady Corinthians" racing series (Wednesdays at 4:00 beginning on 7/30/08.)

July 1, 2008:

Competitive sailing is well under way for 2008 at the Corinthian Yacht Club of Cape May. The club had its first annual Memorial Day Regatta, which was part of the inaugural Laser Spring Series in Cape May Harbor. The top three finishers for the Series were: Past Commodore Dick O'Keefe, Commodore Jack Lord, and Robert Brederhoft. The Laser is a popular one-design class of a small sailing dinghy, which is sailed by one person.


On the weekend of June 14-15, the club hosted the annual Dead Crab Classic J24 Regatta off the beaches of Cape May. This regatta is a regular stop on the J24 Parkway Series, which determines the World Qualifier (this year for the 2009 World Championships to be held in Annapolis, Maryland). Corinthian Yacht Club sailors placed three boats in the top five finishers: John Wilsey and Owen Miller on Red Dawn in second, Gerrit Schulze on Cinderella in fourth, and Bob Foulke and Bob Herzog on Bobsled in fifth. Overall winner was Rick Applin sailing Hot Ticket out of Atlantic Highlands Yacht Club.


The J24, which is usually raced with four-to-five people, is the most popular keelboat in the world in terms of number of boats produced.


On June 22, racers competed in the second weekend of the club's Offshore Racing Series. So far, nine J24s and three "PHRF" boats have competed in the series. ("PHRF" is a formula-based rating system which allows different types of boats to race against each other.) In this past weekend's racing, Turkeys (owned by Jay Kopp, Chrissy McShane and Mark Penny of CYCCM) won both J24 races to take the lead in the series. Shillelagh, a Cal 9.2 owned by Geoff and Linc King of CYCCM, won both PHRF races and leads that series.


The Offshore Series will continue this upcoming Fourth of July weekend.Non-members are welcome to participate in the PHRF races at the club.

Skippers meeting is at 10:30 a.m. at the club with a 12:00 warning signal out in the ocean. Sailing instructions and schedule are available on the Racing page at www.cyccm.com.


In addition to ongoing harbor and offshore racing series, this past weekend, the club hosted the Cape Regional Cup Regatta, which consisted of offshore racing off the beaches of Cape May Saturday June 28 and Laser racing in Cape May Harbor on Sunday, June 27. The offshore awards went to: in the J24 class, Turkeys (1st), Jersey Girl owned by John Groskoph of CYCCM)(2nd), and Blink (owned by Dave Sharp, Jr. of CYCCM)(3rd); in the PHRF Spinnaker class, Hot Toddy (owned by Steve Todd of CYCCM)(1st) and Shillelagh (2nd); and PHRF Non-Spinnaker, Summer Storm (owned by Fred Beyer, Past Commodore) (1st).


The Regatta is sponsored by the Corinthian Yacht Cup of Cape May to benefit the Cape Regional Medical Center.

July 14, 2008:

Due to light wind and low visibility, there was no offshore racing at CYCCM the weekend of July 5. The fleet managed to get one race off on July 12 in light to variable winds. Shillelagh, sailed by Geoff and Linc King, again prevailed in the three-boat PHRF to continue their perfect record of first-place finishes so far this Summer. Arnold Goes to Hollywood, skippered by Jack Van Dalen, won the eight-boat J24 fleet, followed by Cinderella (Al Schulze) and Blink (Dave Sharp). Offshore racing continues this weekend - Saturday, July 19 - skippers meeting at 10:30 a.m., warning signal offshore at 12:00 noon.

The first Sunset Cruise for this Summer is scheduled for Friday, July 18 in the harbor. You do not have to be a member of the club to participate in Sunset Cruises - just bring your boat over to the club's dock by 6 p.m. for the start.

Check the Juniors page for results of Junior travel regattas!

Click on "Harbor Racing" for complete results for Laser/420 Friday Series, Corinthian Series, Wednesday Series, and CYCCM regattas.
Results are also posted on the "Sailing" bulletin board in the inside porch of the club and in the information cases on the harbor-side of the Bayberry Building.

The docks are in place, a new ramp is ready in the Sunfish yard, and the grounds look great - we are ready for another exciting summer at the club!

We had an unbelievable turnout for Dock Day - 50+ enthusiastic helpers collecting trash, pruning trees and bushes, moving boats, raking the debris left after the docks were moved, building the new ramp, and of course, getting the docks back in the water. PC Bob Herzog and PC Jay Kopp led the effort with the docks, with just a bit of "numbering" confusion, but by 9:30 a.m. the job was complete. Lindsay Clarkson's crew and equipment made the work possible and I personally am very grateful to him, Bob and Jay for taking the lead with this project year after year. Thanks too to PC Dick O'Keefe and his building crew for completing the much-needed ramp at the center of the Sunfish yard.

We had several new CYCCM members as well as members of the Lower Cape May Regional High School Sailing Team helping out and no job was too big or too small for our volunteers. Many thanks to all who helped - PC Fred and Jill Beyer, Peter Gahagan, Patrick McCauley, Nicole Curran, Bill Furey, Tom Carroll, PC Sandy Thomson, Ken Lang, PC Bob Foulke, David, Nancy, John and Gordon Sayre, Dave Sharp Sr., Dave Sharp Jr., Russ Dickhart, Don Siegel, Joe Tarantola, Mal and Dottie Knapp, Sue Irving, PC Scott Bennung, PC Jens Fog, Carl Behrens, Mark Sorensen, Matt Corcoran, Steve Todd, Linc King, Geoff King, PC Rob, Carol and Tyler Flynn, John Henderson, Werner Unzlemann, PC Lou Joyce, George Rea, PC Dale Hardin, PC Wally Stuard, LCMR boys Frank Heinlein, Dan Castellucci, and Taylor Vendetta, PC Wally Barrie, PC Dave Schultz, and Jack Bowman. Thanks too to Larry Good for cooking our sausage and pepper lunch and to VC Rick Coale and Chef Harry Gleason for coffee and donuts. It really was a great day!

Now that we're "back in business", some upcoming sailing events should be noted:

• Our first-ever Memorial Day Regatta on Monday May 26 - weather permitting. Lasers, 420's, Optis and Sunfish are invited to participate - skippers' meeting after the Opening Ceremonies. Laser sailors please note: There will be no Sunday Series races on Sunday. You should sail on Monday and the races will be scored for the regatta and for the series.


• Laser Sunday Series - something new on the schedule. First races (see above) will be on Monday May 26, subsequent races on Sundays at 12:00.


• Local Ocean Racing - First race on Saturday June 7. 10:30 skippers' meeting, 12:00 ocean start


• Dead Crab Regatta - June 14 and 15, Owen Miller - Regatta Chairman


• Laser and 420 Friday Series begins June 20.


• Cape May "Harborfest" Saturday June 21 - community celebration of the harbor - more info. to come.


• Junior Sailing classes begin Monday June 23.


• Cape Regional Cup Harbor Regatta Friday June 27.


• Cape Regional Cup Offshore Regatta Saturday June 28.

If you were born after 1949 and want/plan to operate a power vessel over 10 horsepower, you will need to be certified by June 1, 2008 as mandated by the New Jersey State Police. Corinthian will be offering a SAFE BOATING COURSE and certification testing on Saturday May 24 at 9:00 a.m. The course will be led by Captain Frank Breakall and will cost $60. He will provide all materials; you just need a pencil and a commitment to learning! The class and testing will run for approximately three hours - two hours to cover test information and 30-45 minutes for testing and paperwork.

Please reserve your spot by calling me at (609) 238-6283 or sending me an email at lesliefog@msn.com by Wednesday May 21. You may bring cash or a check payable to Captain Breakall on class day, but you must be pre-registered with me.

Don't forget:
All boat storage and locker requests are due now. Do not place a boat on the premises without it having been registered for 2008 and without a current Club decal. Any boats found on the property without the above will be removed. If you have any questions, please contact me at (609) 238-6283 or email me at lesliefog@msn.com.

All Junior Sailing Class registrations are due at this time. If you have any questions, please call Beth Coale at (609) 884-5828. In-person registration will take place on Monday June 16 from 9:00 to 12:00 and the first session will begin the following Monday, June 23. We are lucky to have Rachel Bennung, Jaclyn Reilly, and Meghan O'Keefe returning to the program and they will be joined by Eliza Crawford as a new instructor, with Ian McEwing taking over Eric Bennung as Head Instructor. We will miss Eric but wish him well as he moves on and hope to see him racing in Cape May whenever he can.

I look forward to the summer season and hope you do too.
See you at the club!

Leslie Fog, Rear Commodore